


Bad Intentions

by doppeldonger



Series: Songs of Innocence and Experience [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, the demon child, the troubled skeleton, too many knives and bones, too much blood and dust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7115113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doppeldonger/pseuds/doppeldonger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara discovers more songs that came along with Frisk's memories when Chara killed them. Surely there is a fitting one to sing when they fight Sans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Intentions

“Don't come back.”

The voice echoing through the empty hall surrounded by intimidating walls and a high ceiling drips with balmy hatred, squeezed into such a minute way of expressing oneself, a short sentence filled with words weighing it down as if the speaker is giving a long, dense speech. Sans leans against the pillar, putting his hands in his pockets and sighing in defeat, how many times has he said that sentence now? Ten? Twenty? His eye sockets imitate a tired blink, that doesn't matter. That little demon will come again, waiting to be judged once more, well aware of its end at the gallows.

Naturally, he is right.

The little devil is humming a tune this time, matching their steps to the melody. Sans grunts, well, **that's** new. Deciding to go with the script nevertheless, he puts on a cold grin to welcome his opponent –WITH OPEN ARMS!- and stands his ground, forcing them to stand a few steps ahead of him.

“Kids like you… Should be burning in hell.” _Ting_.

They're -BLUE NOW, THAT’S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!- slowed down, squirming right in his grasp.

The kid with the stolen face grabs at their now-pale SOUL with a grin and sings as if that's how they communicated all along, “Under investigation, lies a bitter heart.”

They outsmart the attacks Sans throws in their way gracefully, jumping over the wall of bones, ducking underneath another set, taking a stab at Sans and missing. They are fast despite the magic weighing them down, but the skeleton is clearly faster. He responds to their manic grin with his lazy one and drawls on, obediently following the script; even though it is clear that his opponent seems intent on trying to change it. “Let the poison sink in, let it leave its mark.” They take a hit, but recover quickly and attack him without missing a beat; the two are dancing to the melody of Chara's song now. “There used to be a lightness, used to be a spark… Broke communication, let it go too far.” Are they referring to Frisk? Sans has a vague memory of the genuine smile on the tan face, of happy moments on the surface. What he also remembers are all the runs where Frisk mowed down monsters with ease, not because of Chara, but simply because they enjoyed the thrill of the kill, the feeling of piling dust on their small hands.

As if they read his thoughts, Chara invites him closer with a beckoning finger, risking to waste their turn, “Come closer… Deep down, you might like what I found.” Sans shrugs, _eh_. They know they can't hit him at this point anyway.

Not yet.

They dodge the blazing blasters. He dodges the flashing knife.

“I am not what I've done, what I've become! Can't fight these bad intentions!” For the tiniest moment, Sans hesitates, is that Frisk asking for help? Is that Chara begging for redemption?

Nearly getting jabbed in the ribs is a clear answer to that question. _Welp_. Chara runs away a couple of steps, dodges walls of bones, nearly gets fried by his blasters –what a shame they didn't!- and circles him like a wild animal, a giggle shaking their small frame all the while.

Their expression turns grave –Sans can think of a couple of mean puns at this point- when they resume their singing, “I thought I was the victim, I played it well... Sifted through the wreckage, couldn't find myself.” Clearly because of reasons Sans cannot fathom, they sneer, unusually angry so; their movements are stiff and meaner now, but Sans dodges the attacks all the same. “I tried to be salvation, tried to make a change... Oh I've gone too far, looked the other way.”

Chara can't believe being in the judgement hall makes them talk about their… feelings? So freely.

They shake their head, no. This is just one of those stupid songs that came along with Frisk.

Is this a confession? Sans knows Chara's deal, their past, are they trying to convince him they're faultless at this?

Running from one overwhelming group of people to fall right into another and being deemed the hopes and dreams of the whole monster kind is nothing overrated. Committing mass genocide just because they failed at this task forced upon them, though?

“heh.”

That's grade-A bullshit.

Sound of bone searing through flesh. Chara falls. Sans laughs at the irony and the unintended pun, nearly guffawing at the sight of blood pooling around the body that is slowly disappearing.

In less than a minute, time comes crumbling down, overwriting and warping the past yet again.

“Come closer… Deep down, you might like what I've found!” They're pointing at his SOUL now, taunting him with their empty smile and glistening, mean red eyes. The dance continues, _swish_ , dodge, _whoosh_ , dodge.

“I am not what I've done what I've become! Can't fight these bad intent- **_ack_**!”

With the bones protruding from their abdomen, they still sing, words hovering near their lips like a chant as they hold onto life like the greedy kid they are, “I am not what I've done what I've become! Can't fight these bad intentions!”

It would be adorable if he didn't know their intentions already. He shrugs, squares his shoulders and leans on another pillar this time. As the telltale lazy smile creeps along his bony face, he finds himself hoping they'd stay dead this time; shame that he knows that's false hope.

False hope. Just like Chara themself. Sans knows the human hates their own kind, yet he can't help but wonder what made them hate monsters as well. He never personally met the child when they were alive, he and Papyrus – _Papyrus! Why did you have to be so good hearted?-_ spent most of their lives at The Core along with Gaster after all. Come to think of it, one disaster followed another, in a way. Sans puts his hands in his pockets and crosses his legs, catching a break until the demon decides to stroll in yet again. He feels like he's living the life of a broken record, stuck and repeating the same few notes over and over again. It's tiring, really. Nothing's worth the effort. Sans isn't sure if it's simply giving up seeing how the kid is intent on fucking up any sort of happy ending he and his loved ones get, or if it's depression stemming from seeing the said loved ones dusted over and over and over...

Back to his original track of thought. Losing Gaster to The Core seems like just the beginning to him now. Moving to Snowdin, leaving their lives and scientific discoveries behind to start anew, their new lives so drastically different from the one they abandoned for the sake of staying alive.

Papyrus was always the hopeful one, even back when Sans had more than one measly HP, back when they lived the life they deserved. His baby brother’s view of life hadn't change much when they came to Snowdin, while Sans was lost in every sense of the word, it was Papyrus who turned the confused mess into a homely environment, giving both of them a new life almost as good as the one before. The Great Papyrus, with the hearty laughs, self-confidence and kindness Sans lacked.

But none of that matters now, he's dead after all, isn't he?

Sans groans for the sake of keeping the wail bubbling in his chest quiet, ending up crying in front of Chara wouldn't do good to the laid-back image he created to shield his crippling anxiety.

For some reason, he is quite certain Chara knows that already.

Time overwrites itself again, Sans has long learned to swim in the feeling and let it consume him instead of trying to reject it. Headaches and feeling sick isn't good for you when you're fighting a psychotic little devil, neither is continuously thinking about the fact that you've lost everything to a time-controlling little bastard.

This is the farthest the demon child has gotten, Sans realizes as they hop over a wall of bones with ease. This is, surprisingly, the most serious he has ever seen them as well.

He offers to spare them with a knowing wink and a gentle, welcoming gesture.

“Just pull the trigger, I'll take the pain.” they respond, their smile grim; he's tempted to do as they ask, but then there's the script. Plus, this is the farthest **_he_** has ever gotten for the first time. “You know you wanted to, you know you wanted to…” they whisper.

Sans knows they're doing it to annoy him, to drive him crazy, to make him lose his cool. Blaming him, that is.

Then why does he feel his sins crawling on his back?

Chara swings their damned knife. It seems neither of them were that sincere after all. Sans dodges, but the blade slashes his coat playfully this time. Chara laughs, a hand on their mouth like a child who discovered a mean secret.

So, so close.

“Just pull the trigger, I'll take the pain.” Dodging his attacks perfectly, they get closer to Sans, too close for his liking, in fact. He can smell the dust clinging onto them as his eyes dart around to follow their moves. Monster remains are like humans’, in a sense, but while blood smells like iron –like determination-, dust smells like pines and distant memories –like magic and love.

“Ya gonna try to hug it out, ya devil?” _Whoops_! There goes the script. He shrugs nonchalantly, he doesn't care at this point; this kid makes his skin crawl, and considering he's a skeleton and therefore has no skin, that’s a big deal.

“I'll be the villain, just play the game!”

 _Swish_. Dodge. Bones rattling. Blasters humming and firing. Dodge. It really is a game to them, isn't it?

“I've found a bitter heart...” He wants to groan in frustration, which is… he's not sure how to feel about this. He hasn't felt strong feelings for a really long time, he doesn't like the taste this one leaves on his tongue.

Chara isn't too far off when they call him bitter. A deep snarl rises from his chest, has he played his cards that openly?

“Just pull the trigger, I'll take the pain...”

For a moment, they both decide to ignore taking turns, for reasons more similar than they would admit: stress, fury, greed.

Like the mutual feelings, the searing pain comes simultaneously for both. With eyes wide as plates, Chara looks between the bone digging through their heart and the skeleton standing in front of them; Sans’s eye sockets bear no less shock as he puts a bony hand on the gash running across his chest.

He tries to hold on, to last long enough to let them die first- if he dies, they'll take over everything and even if takes him a thousand reloads, he won't let that happen.

Dust pours out of his wound, nearly matching the blood Chara’s heart pumping out of their body. As they fall onto their knees at the exact moment like dancers following the same song, Chara drops the knife and reaches out to Sans, smearing blood and dust along his skull.

_We're not so different, you and I._

“Can't fight these bad intentions!”

Their hand falls limp, along with the rest of their body. With one look at their now-dull ruby eyes, Sans falls apart. Blood and dust continue to dance together in the silence of Judgement Hall, the artificial sunlight pouring from the windows and over to the fallen warriors’ remains.

That means he outlived them. That means he can still beat them.

 _Well fuck._ He really wanted to meet up with Papyrus at Grillby’s.

**Author's Note:**

> What are you hiding, Sans? :o
> 
> The song is "Bad Intentions" by Digital Daggers!


End file.
